Treasures
by pago
Summary: AU, OC, oneshot, takes place a few months after Long Halloween. Los Noches may have been destroyed back during the war, but personal treasures still lay hidden beneath the rubble. Tyn coerces the other arrancar into helping him search the ruins for lost pieces of his Espada days, but maybe he's looking for treasure in all the wrong places...


**_Author's Note_**_ **I: **__AU, OCs, usual disclaimer stuff, blah blah... Takes place a few months after _Long Halloween_._**  
**

**Treasures**

In was impossible to comprehend the enormity of the remains of Los Noches until you were waist-deep in rubble and looked around to at the towering mounds of debris that stretched up an additional fifty or more meters and realized that beneath your feet, the devastation continued for _another_ eighty-plus meters. The grand palace, once the size of an imposing mountain, was now nothing more than the largest trash heap in all the realms.

Buried within the rubble were lost treasures, fallen friends and foe alike, hidden secrets, and memories both good and bad. To those that had once called the palace home, it was a sobering sight; there had been a time long ago when they had believed their fortress to be completely impregnable, invincible, and eternal; it would be there for thousands of years after they had perished, a true immortal that refused to bow to the ravages of time.

Such arrogance seemed so foolish in retrospect.

The shinigami had come and wrecked massive damage to the "invincible" palace during the War and with Aizen's death, the palace sustained further damage as the surviving arrancar split into factions and warred each other for the right to rule Hueco Mundo in his stead. When the dust from that had settled and the war with the shinigami had resumed, the second invasion from the Soul Society had finally brought the mighty fortress crumbling down to complete and utter ruin.

"This is depressing," sighed Linndal, looking around at what was left of the Espada's former home. "I always wanted ta come back ta the palace and live here again, but this..."

"Look at it as the ultimate 'fixer-upper' project," said Starrk. "They have lots of television shows about that stuff in the human world."

"Except you'd need a goddamn _army_ to clean this shit up," said Grimmjow bitterly. "Why the fuck are we even here again?"

"_You're _here because the alternative was helping Yoruichi with that pet project of hers," answered Tyn as he meticulously dug through the ruins. "You know, the one that has you digging up corpses for reasons she won't explain?"

"And the rest of us are here because Orihime mentioned cooking a nice dinner for us," added Starrk, shuddering at the thought. "Manual labor versus her cooking... This seems like the lesser of two evils by a wide margin."

"Her culinary skills have improved remarkably," said Ulquiorra, sounding almost defensive of his roommate.

"Then tell us, lad; why are _you_ here instead of with her?" asked Linn curiously.

The Demon Bat chose not to answer, opting instead to resume his search of the ruins.

"Waste of time..." growled Grimmjow, sitting down on a broken stone the size of a small car and running a dirty hand through his disheveled blue hair. "Ain't nothing worth a shit left here to find; everything good was probably taken by the Soul Reapers or broken."

"If you want to go home, then go," said Tyn, still sifting through debris before coming to a large stone blocking his progress. He shattered it with a quick bala, sending rock shards flying about haphazardly, one of which bounced off the _sexta's_ thick skull.

Accidentally, of course, but Tyn certainly didn't mind the idea of fate smacking Grimmjow for him.

"What makes you think it's still here, anyway?" asked Grimmjow, rubbing the knot on his forehead. "Aizen had your quarters cleared out after you left, threw all your shit away."

"Because I know Tia," answered Tyn, never looking up from his task. "She would have went to my quarters first and salvaged anything important to me...same as I'd have done for her."

"With as angry as she was at you towards the end, it is very likely she would have thrown it away herself or destroyed it out of spite shortly before the War," pointed out Ulquiorra.

"I don't think so..." said the _quinto_, pausing for a brief moment to look up at the eternal night sky. "I think she might have tucked it away in the back of a closet somewhere, out of sight and out of mind, but she wouldn't have thrown it away."

"Or Loly might have taken it," added Linn thoughtfully. "Lass always did have a crush on you."

"Don't remind me."

"Ah, come on now; you tellin' me you never thought about it even _once_ during those days? Never had a night when you were so _lonely_ you considered inviting her in for a few hours?"

"Nope," answered Tyn easily, resuming his search.

"Can't imagine Halibel would have taken it very well if she had found Loly's scent clinging to Tyn one day..." said Starrk. "I know you two weren't..._involved_ back then, but I still think she'd have been pretty pissed."

"Loly had this whole 'creepy stalker' vibe going on," grimaced Tyn. "I preferred to ignore her in the hope she would go away."

"_I'd_ have gone for it," shrugged Linn.

"Linn, you'd take anything with a hole and a pulse."

"I often suspected that even the latter was not strictly necessary," added Ulquiorra.

"Hopeless lech," agreed Starrk.

"Bah!" scowled Linn, giving the others the finger before turning back to his own excavation. "You're all just jealous of my luck with the ladies."

"If you call scraping the bottom of the barrel luck, then yes, we're _extremely_ jealous," ribbed Starrk. "I mean, Cirucci, really?"

"And the rabbit chick with the purple hair," said Tyn. "What was her name again?"

"I call her 'the useless bitch that got beat by a bunch of goddamned kids and a stupid plush toy,'"sneered Grimmjow. "Seriously, we were all in the meeting room watching the feed from Karakura when that shit went down... First and only time I ever heard Aizen chuckle, I think. Gin was rolling on the fucking floor."

"Maybe we should talk about your failed attempts to court dear ole Nelly instead," Linn fired back at the _sexta_.

"_SHUT UP!"_ roared Grimmjow angrily, his voice echoing across the desert wasteland. "I'll tear your goddamned kidneys out and punch them into your skull through your fucking _eyes!_"

"Well, _that's_ a new one..." drawled the _primera_ from his digsite. "Colorful."

"Shut the fuck up, Starrk!"

"Now now, I want to hear this," said Linn, grinning at the absurdity of Grimmjow's indignant rage and his insane threat. "After you've stuck my kidneys in my eye sockets, what do ya plan on doing then? I mean, surely ya've got more planned than just _that_."

"I'll rip your fucking _sphincter_ out and_—_"

"Much as I hate to interrupt your..._spirited_ conversation, I do believe I have found the remains of Halibel's quarters," said Ulquiorra, holding up a shattered picture frame and the tattered remains of an image that had once depicted a tropical beach somewhere, clear blue waters lapping gently at the sand as a pair of palm trees swayed in the breeze.

"Then we must be close," said Tyn, crawling out of his own pit and walking over to Ulquiorra's as the pale Espada casually tossed the broken picture aside. Tyn watched it clatter to the ground, further shattering the already-broken glass and splintered wooden frame.

"We'll bring that back with us, too..." he said softly. "Grimmjow, pick that up and don't lose it."

"Yeah, yeah..." grumbled the other male as he walked over and scooped up the ruined picture.

The others began to converge on Ulquiorra's location as well, digging deeper into the surrounding ruins as they searched for Tyn's lost treasure.

"What about that thingy Gin had?" Grimmjow asked, scratching his chin. "I mean, it's probably busted all to shit, but if we can find it and take it back, get it repaired, and _sell_ it..."

"You mean his pinball machine?" asked Starrk.

"_Machines_, plural," corrected Ulquiorra. "I believe he had at least three pinball machines and seven video arcade cabinets."

"If you guys want to dig that shit up, yeah, fine, I'll help" sighed Tyn. "Only fair since you're helping me."

"Too much trouble," said Starrk dismissively.

"I will admit, there is a part of me that would like to find the remains of my quarters and the library to salvage the books within, but Orihime's computer and the internet provides a far greater wealth of knowledge than all of the various encyclopedias and periodicals we had here," said Ulquiorra. "Though I do lament the loss of physically holding a book in my hands."

"The humans have a word for people like you, Batsy..." said Linn thoughtfully. "Dork, I think."

"Suddenly I am recalling the instance where you spent a week flirting heavily with Kamatari before realizing she was, in fact, a he..."

"THAT WAS AN HONEST MISTAKE!" said Linn, face flushing red with embarrassment.

"To be fair, _I_ thought he was a she, too," shrugged Starrk. "He certainly tried his best to be a woman, anyway."

"Was a hell of a lot more convincing than Charlotte," said Grimmjow, pausing a moment. "Still gay as fuck, though."

"It was pretty damn hilarious when you came running out of your quarters and down the hall screaming," agreed Tyn.

"I still have nightmares about that..." Linn shuddered. "It was all going so nice and then she opened her kimono and I saw..._it_..."

"Well, he was more a lot feminine that Cirucci was and she really _was_ a woman," said Tyn. "Which, when you think about it, makes it all even _more_ disturbing."

"Hey, I think I found something over here," called Starrk, mercifully drawing attention away from the tormented Hound as he pulled out something wrapped in a blue cloth. He laid the cloth on the ground and unrolled it slowly, revealing several chunks of silver, a thick string, and some sort of composite material the Espada couldn't identify.

"I believe you have indeed found it..." murmured Ulquiorra as he picked up a chunk of silver, a thick silver and black string dangling from one end loosely. "But it appears the collapse of the building shattered it."

"Or Halibel did it herself," said Grimmjow. "Bitch has a nasty temper."

"No, I'm pretty sure the collapse did this..." said Tyn, kneeling down to inspect his broken treasure. "It was intact when she wrapped it up."

"Orihime can fix it," said Starrk. "The picture, too."

"What the hell _is_ it, anyway?" asked Grimmjow, picking up a chunk that appeared to be a grip of some sort.

"This is a rarity..." said Tyn. "It's why I kept it back then and why I came back for it now..."

He took the shard from Grimmjow and began arranging the other pieces on the blue cloth, showing roughly how it would have looked when it was pristine.

"It's a bow," said Starrk. "_Why_ did you have a bow?"

"Trophy," answered Tyn.

"From what?" asked Grimmjow, furrowing his brow as he looked at the broken weapon.

"A Quincy."

* * *

_**-Hueco Mundo, 5.2 years ago-**_

The Quincies had not bothered to hide their trail in the wake of the slaughter of a small homestead of arrancar freed of service to Aizen, arrancar deemed too weak to be worth much to the cause. Weak as they had been, they had not been the first victims of the Quincy tribe roaming the desert sands, but they were certainly going to be the _last_; the Quincies penchant for indiscriminately slaying adjuchas and vasto lordes who could have been _useful_ had condemned them to die.

Aizen had brought in the infamous Butcher, Tatter de Malion, to lead the hunt, assigning four of the elite Espada to help him track down and eliminate the unwelcome pests.

Deaths of wild hollows didn't bother the party too much, but the sight of the ravaged homestead and the dying arrancar child when children were already so _rare_ in Hueco Mundo...

The Quincies had gone too far and regardless of if Aizen had wanted them dead or not, they had signed their own death warrant with that innocent blood.

The trail had been cold up until the homestead, but the blood of the family that had lived there, the blood of the child, had clung to the Quincies and their normally-immaculate white clothing, and the scent of that blood had led the hunting party right to their little makeshift war camp.

The laughter of the slaughtered family could almost be heard echoing on the wind as the Espada and the Butcher razed the camp to the ground, showing the Quincies no mercy and making sure they understood just how badly they had screwed up.

Vengeance was a glorious thing.

"Rest in peace, little one..." said Halibel quietly as she shook the blood from _Tiburón's_ short blade before returning it to the sheath on her back.

"Aye, bastards deserved every bit o' this and more," growled Linndal as he planted a foot on a nearby corpse and yanked his spear-like zanpaktou free of its torso.

"They were more powerful than I would have expected..." murmured Ulquiorra, looking down at his tattered jacket top and the various shallow wounds in his chest. "They could have posed a serious threat had they been allowed to remain in the desert and grow even stronger."

"Most Quincies aren't really anything special," spat the Butcher, Tatter de Malion. "They like to _think_ they are, but they're just self-righteous bigots who only feel powerful when they compare themselves to normal humans and your average, run-of-the-mill hollows. There are some, though, who are truly dangerous... These guys, while not the strongest I've seen, were definitely up there."

"Homing _reishi_ arrows were an unpleasant surprise..." said Tyn, flexing his left arm. "For me _and_ for them."

"Never seen one do that before," Tatter admitted. "But leading his volley back around to his fellows was brilliant; it was satisfying to watch Quincies kill themselves for a change."

"I'm guessing one or two of those arrows managed to tag you?" asked Halibel, motioning towards Tyn's sleeveless left arm.

"Yeah..." admitted the raptor. "I dodged everything coming my way, paused to snap one guy's neck, and got nailed from behind when they circled back around; some in my back and one in my arm. Still stings a bit."

It wasn't the _total_ truth; three of them had actually sheared his arm off at the elbow, but his inhuman regenerative abilities had repaired the damage wrought in seconds, growing him a new arm. Halibel knew of his regenerative skills, but the others did not and he wasn't particularly inclined to share; the less they knew about his full capabilities, the better he would be if they should ever find themselves on opposing sides.

Ulquiorra had foolishly let others know of his own remarkable regenerative properties, but Tyn would _not_ make the same mistake.

But Halibel knew the truth of his abilities and judging by the way she was looking over at him, she also knew the truth about his arm.

He brushed it off; he wasn't concerned with her knowing his secrets; he trusted her more than anyone else and was confident that they would never need fight one another.

Tyn looked down at the mangled corpse at his feet, bisected by _Garras Rapaces_, intestines oozing out onto the white sands. The Quincy still had a longbow clasped tightly in his right hand, an actual physical bow rather than the typical _reishi_ manifestation, and the arrancar bent down and pried it from the dead man's fingers, examining it closely.

"That's a pretty rare sight..." Tatter said, coming over to inspect the find. "Most Quincies favor _reishi_ constructs over physical bows because it lets them travel light and move faster. Physical bows, though, allow them to put more energy into the actual arrows themselves, letting them fire more before tiring."

He bent down across from Tyn, reaching out and touching the silver plates on the weapon before moving his fingers over to check the drawstring.

"Silver filament in there..." he murmured. "Silver was considered a magic metal in ancient times, and it wasn't far from the truth; silver is the single best natural conductor for _reishi_ in existence. These silver enhancements let him reinforce the bow with his own spirit energy with minimal effort, making it almost as durable and versatile as a pure _reishi_ construct."

There was a semi-circle of silver facing outward from the grip, slightly bigger than a human fist.

"This bit here? This is for concentrating and focusing absurd amounts of energy into a single arrow. At full power, we're talking about an arrow with roughly the power of a Gran Rey cero."

"If a physical bow can do all _that_, I'm not sure why they even bother with the _reishi_ weapons..." said Linndal.

"There _are_ drawbacks..." said Tatter, standing back up. "First, this thing is a lot heaver than a construct; constructs weigh nothing, but this thing? Ten pounds or so. Not a lot of weight, but any unnecessary weight in a fight is a bad thing, especially when your strengths are supposed to be your mobility and ability to fight at range."

He gestured back to all the silver plating. "And while that silver is great for conducting energy and focusing power, it's high maintenance; it needs to be kept clean as a whistle for optimum efficiency. Every bit of dust or dirt interferes with the _reishi_ flow and affects the power. This one is pretty spotless other than some specks of blood which are likely his, so I'd say this guy was pretty obsessed with keeping it pristine."

"I would imagine the string breaking is another problem," said Ulquiorra. "A construct would never have that problem, but a physical bow..."

"Very true," nodded Tatter. "And once that string breaks, you're screwed until you can replace it."

"So this guy was either very good, very confident, or very stupid..." surmised Tyn, holding the longbow and pulling the drawstring back experimentally.

"All three, I'd say," Tatter answered. "He kept it spotless, managed to fire homing arrows that I've never even _seen_ before, but Hueco Mundo is certainly the _last_ place to be using a physical bow over a construct; way too much sand here for it to be a good choice. Still, that's a pretty unique find; would make a hell of a trophy for your wall."

"Like you really _need_ to encourage him..." snorted Halibel, shaking her head as Tyn shouldered the weapon with a satisfied grin.

* * *

_**-Karakura, Present Day-**_

"I really appreciate you doing this for me, Orihime."

The teen in question smiled over at the arrancar, brushing her long, brightly-colored hair out of her eyes as the orange glow from her _Sōten Kisshun_ flooded the living room of her modest home. _Sōten Kisshun_ was a unique ability, capable of reversing damage, healing wounds, and even rejecting reality itself and creating a _new_ reality more in line with Orihime's desires.

Her abilities were God-like in their power, giving the teen frightening potential.

And yet Orihime was as humble and modest as could be, with a heart that could best be described as overly-large.

"Oh, it's no problem," she said, waving off the thanks. "I'm always glad to be able to help! And really, I don't get to practice on inanimate objects enough...they're tougher to repair than injuries because I'm not used to it, but I'll get there."

"Not used to it?" asked Grimmjow gruffly, looking around the living room before walking over to a large shelf on the wall. "Come on, you could just like, break _all_ of this shit, and then practice as much as you want. Like this stupid thing here..."

The _sexta_ reached up and put his hand on a beautiful, elegant crystal swan as Orihime opened her mouth in horror, hoping to stop him. "Grimmjow,_ no!_"

It was too late; the arrancar casually knocked the delicate sculpture off the shelf and sent it tumbling to the unforgiving floor...

Orihime braced herself for the crash, shutting her eyes tightly and wincing, but the expected sound of the crystal shattered was replacing with a loud _oomph_-noise of something much heavier and sturdier hitting the ground instead. She opened her brown eyes cautiously and saw Linndal lying in the floor, holding the delicate crystal sculpture inches from the ground.

"Hell of a catch," Starrk commented from the couch as Ulquiorra made his way over to the scene, gently plucking the swan from Linndal's hands and replacing it back on the shelf while simultaneously giving Grimmjow a cold glare.

"_WHAT?!_" asked Grimmjow, exasperated. "I was only trying to help!"

"I know, Grimmy..." said Orihime slowly, "but that belonged to my great-grandmother... She was really the only family other than my brother who cared about me... I always loved that swan as a child and right before she passed away, she left it to me..."

"Oh..." said Grimmjow simply, looking away guiltily but refusing to apologize.

Linndal got to his feet slowly, leaning over just a bit to dust his pants off as Orihime came over and hugged the black-haired _septima_ tightly. "Thank you _so much_, Linn," she gushed, "you don't know how much I appreciate that."

"Heh," smiled the arrancar, a touch of his inner lech gleaming in his eyes as he blushed a bit. "Ain't nothin', lass."

Ulquiorra turned his cold gaze on the Mad Hound, jealousy reflecting in his verdant eyes despite his best efforts to hide it, and Linn predictably responded by sticking his tongue out and mocking the pale Demon Bat as Orihime continued hugging her hero, oblivious to the silent exchange.

Tyn and Starrk both just shook their heads at the scene.

Orihime finally pried herself loose and came back over to check on the status of her _Sōten Kisshun_ spell and the two damaged objects.

"It shouldn't take too much longer," she told the others. "So this is what you went all the way to Los Noches to find instead of having a cookout here?"

"Yeah..." Tyn said slowly. "Sorry about that, but I just really wanted to find this."

"I understand," said Orihime, smiling again. "No hard feelings. It must be very important to you."

"It was the one belonging I had during my Espada days that meant something," the redhead nodded. "Pity I only got to enjoy it for a few days before everything went to shit."

"It looks like a bow..." Orihime observed, brow furrowing. "Kinda Quincy-ish... Where did you get this originally?"

"I_—_" began Tyn, cutting himself short as he realized Orihime, gentle, kind-hearted Orihime, might not really like the truth. He looked at the others for guidance and there was a brief, awkward pause as everyone considered an answer.

"Thrift store during a trip to the human world," offered Starrk.

"A prize for beating Ichimaru at one of his 'video games,'" tried Ulquiorra.

"Happy Meal!" said Linn.

"Found it in a sand dune," Tyn said finally.

"Murdered the hell out of a Quincy and looted it," blurted Grimmjow from his spot standing in the corner, prompting the other males to all facepalm in unison.

"Smooth, Grimmjow, real smooth..." said Starrk sarcastically.

"_WHAT_, damn it?!" bellowed Grimmjow again, annoyed by the dirty looks being cast his way.

"You..._killed_ a Quincy and stole this?" Orihime asked Tyn, aghast.

"It's not _exactly_ like that," Tyn said defensively. "There were a few small tribes of Quincies roaming Hueco Mundo and killing hollows indiscriminately; Aizen dispatched a few of us to find them and put a stop to it."

"But killing them...wasn't there another way?" asked the teen sadly.

"After they murdered a family of innocents, including a child, no, there wasn't," said Linn softly. "Ask Batsy here if you don't believe us; he was there when it all went down."

Orihime turned to her roommate and friend, Ulquiorra, blinking slowly. "Ulqui...is it true?"

"It is," nodded the Espada. "We cared little for the way the Quincies killed wild hollows, but the arrancar Aizen had created and released to live in the desert as they saw fit were a different matter.. We tracked them for weeks, usually finding nothing but traces of their crimes, but on that last day, we found a homestead that had been ransacked and the occupants butchered. Among them was a child...an arrancar child, a rarity in Hueco Mundo."

"The scent of blood from that last family and the unfortunate child helped us finally track the Quincies down..." Tyn added. "A dozen of them versus four of us, plus de Malion... We gave no quarter and I took the bow from the last Quincy I killed."

"I see..." said Orihime, looking down forlornly. "I wish it had been different, but...I understand. I can't imagine it...them killing innocents living in peace...and killing a child! The only Quincy I know, Uryū, would _never_ do something like that..."

"Quincies are just like anything else, lass," pointed out Linn. "Some are good, noble souls while others are heartless murderers. Same holds true for normal humans, for shinigami, and for us arrancar, too."

"You did what you had to," conceded the girl, "and now I understand why this was so important to you, Tyn."

"Sorry for lying about where it came from," apologized the _quinto_. "I didn't think you'd appreciate knowing the real story behind it."

"I know you guys all did bad things in the past..." Orihime said hesitantly. "I know some of those things are probably really, _really_ horrible...but you don't have to _lie _about it to protect me. No matter how terrible the truth is, I want to know... We're all friends now, aren't we?"

"Of course," answered Ulquiorra, almost sounding eager to appease the girl.

"Aye, lass, that we are," agreed Linn as Tyn and Starrk both gave a simple nod.

"Friends don't need to lie or hide things from each other," she continued. "So yeah...from now on, you don't have to handle me with kid gloves when it comes to things like this."

"I slept with Yoruichi last night," shrugged Grimmjow. "How's _that_ for being honest?"

"Bullshit," said Starrk, rolling his eyes.

"I don't mean we fucked or nothing, but she slept in my bed. With me. It was...weird."

"You don't need to lie to protect me, but you don't need to make up tall-tales, either," said Orihime, shaking her head. "I bet Yoruichi wouldn't be happy to hear you making things up about her like that."

"I'm not lying!" said Grimmjow incredulously. "Why the hell won't anyone believe me?"

"Because you're you?" quipped Starrk.

"Shut the fuck up, Starrk!"

"You expect us to believe that Lady Yoruichi, a noble, the Princess of the esteemed Shihōin clan, would have any kind of personal and possibly romantic interest in you?" asked Ulquiorra dubiously.

"_YES!_" exclaimed Grimmjow. "How could she _not?_"

"The same way Nel didn't?" asked Tyn.

"Fuck off, lizard boy!" snapped Grimmjow.

Linndal walked over and seized Grimmjow's right wrist, raising his hand up and inspecting it closely.

"My, Lady Yoruichi, you're a lot shorter and paler than I remember..." he told the hand before Grimmjow angrily snatched his arm back away from the madly-laughing Mad Hound.

"To hell with _all_ of you!" he roared, stomping across the living room and storming out the door in an angry huff as everyone else, sans Ulquiorra and Orihime, laughed uproariously at him.

Though, Ulquiorra _did_ have a faint smirk on his lips and Orihime was trying her best not to giggle.

"Grimmjow and Yoruichi..." said Starrk, shaking his head. "How stupid does he think we are?"

"Dumber than he is, apparently," answered Linndal.

The group chuckled at Grimmjow's fantastic fantasy a bit more as the soft glow from _Sōten Kisshun_ finally faded, revealing a pristine bow and a framed wide, panoramic picture of a tropical beach somewhere.

"All done!" chirped Orihime cheerfully.

"Thanks again, Orihime," said Tyn, giving the kind-hearted girl a genuine smile for once as he hefted his repaired silver-coated bow, looking it over.

"Silly," said Orihime with a grin, "I told you, it's no problem at all!"

She picked up the picture, examining it closely as Linn and Ulquiorra moved in to inspect it with her.

"This really doesn't look like something you'd have," Linn pointed out.

"It's beautiful..." breathed Orihime.

"It's Tia's," said Tyn, shouldering the bow. "That was probably her favorite possession in Los Noches...I can't believe we found anything left of it."

"Where did she get this?" asked Orihime. "And I don't want you to lie to shield me from the truth, but I _hope_ it's not a bloody story..."

"It isn't," promised Tyn. "It's simple, really; Aizen used to let some of the lesser arrancar go to the human world to bring back stuff for himself, the Espada, Gin, and Tousen. They brought back shopping papers and magazines from the world of the living, we'd make lists, and they'd try and bring stuff back for us."

"They never went to Karakura, though," Ulquiorra added. "Aizen was wary of the Seireitei finding out about our existence prematurely, so these expeditions were restricted to Europe and the Americas, where the Soul Society turned a blind eye. Even then, we of the Espada were never allowed to go ourselves."

"Tia's fracción got to go once, though," Tyn continued. "I remember when they brought this back for her..."

* * *

_**-Los Noches, 6 Years Ago-**_

It had been nearly a month since Tyn had been brought into the grand palace of Los Noches from the desert and forcibly evolved into an arrancar, nearly a month since he had been welcomed into Aizen's elite Espada as the _sexta_. In all that time, he had been exploring the palace inside and out in an attempt to better understand the nuances of his new home and discover what secrets it held, but he had finally come to a very important conclusion...

Los Noches was simply too big for him to discover all of its hidden rooms and passages.

Some tunnels underground ran for countless miles before forking out in a myriad of different directions. He'd discovered more than a few secret rooms hidden behind false wall panels and he knew there were likely many, many more that were better concealed.

Secret chambers and tunnels that didn't exist on any of the official blueprints and maps he'd seen...

Another reason to be distrustful of the Soul Reaper known as "Lord" Aizen; why was he keeping so many secrets from his "beloved" and "trusted" Espada?

Tyn had spent the day wandering around the upper floors of the central palace and some of the smaller satellite buildings, once again finding things that, according to the blueprints, should not exist. The hidden rooms were all empty for now, but what was their true purpose meant to be? Torture chambers? Prison? Surveillance?

He didn't particularly like any of those possibilities.

The raptor had already been talking to some of the others, asking if they knew anything about the hidden tunnels and rooms, but no one seemed to have a clue and many of them didn't believe they even existed.

Paranoid, Halibel had said the other day.

He clucked his tongue at the memory of her phasing and the way it had stung him as he hopped from balcony to balcony beneath the painted blue sky and the artificial sun. He had a Pack now, kind of, and he wanted to _protect_ them, but they dismissed his efforts and concerns as idle paranoia and general silliness...

So infuriating...

Down below, he saw the blonde in question emerge from the library with her fists clenched, walking quickly and angrily as seething rage literally rolled off of her.

Tyn's irritation faded, replaced with equal parts curiosity and concern for a member of his Pack, even if she was often quite frosty towards him. He hopped over to another balcony, and then another, following her quick steps from up above.

"Hey, Halibel," he called down to her, "something wrong?"

The Shark Queen ignored his query and kept walking.

Stubborn woman.

He kept following her, hopping over to the next balcony (Starrk's, he thought). "I _know_ you can hear me down there!"

Still nothing.

Damn it.

He hopped ahead a couple of balconies before dropping down into the sand in front of her, landing in a low crouch.

"_What?!_" she snarled at him.

"Easy," he said as he stood up, holding his hands up and showing his palms in a non-threatening gesture. "You're upset about something. Tell me what's wrong and maybe I can help you."

"I don't _need_ your help, Six," she snapped, brushing past him.

Well, he was more than capable of being equally stubborn...

With a quick step of _sonido_, he vanished and reappeared in front of her again, spreading his arms out as if to prevent her from going any further until she talked. "We're supposed to be on the same side, remember? If something is bothering you, you can talk to me; I'm your _friend_, Tia, whether or not you want it."

"I've had just about all of the male bullshit I can stand today," she hissed threateningly. "If this is some kind of macho game where you pretend to be chivalrous just because you think_—_"

"Nnoitra," guessed Tyn, cutting her off. "What has that creep done _now?_ I heard he actually attacked Nel last week because of his sexist idiocy..."

"He did," confirmed Halibel, scowling. "And he just gave me a speech about how women are inferior to men in all regards: we're stupid, weaker, irrational, and unfit to be in command positions."

"For fuck's sake..." sighed Tyn, shaking his head. "Don't let it get to you; you _know_ that's all bullshit. I'll go have a talk with mister High-and-Mighty_ Octava_ and put an end to this."

"I don't need _you_ to handle him for me, Six," said the _cuatra _curtly. "I've already made it abundantly clear that if he speaks to me in such a fashion again, I'll tear his _jaw_ off and if he's stupid enough to raise a weapon against me like he did to Nel, it will be the last mistake he _ever _makes."

With that, she pushed past the raptor and continued her angry stalking across the desert sands. Tyn blinked for a moment, digesting the information before turning and jogging to catch up, falling into step beside her.

"Then the problem is solved, isn't it?" he asked her. "No reason to be so upset anymore; you put him in his place and asserted your dominance. If you continue to let it get to you _this_ badly, then you've let him inside your head and he's _won_."

"Don't you think I _know_ that?" she asked him bitterly. "It's easier said than done."

"Then let's talk, just you and me; get your mind off of it," he shrugged. "We could go outside the dome for a run; I find the night air helps me clear my head when I'm upset or confused."

"Pass," said the blonde dismissively, rolling her green eyes.

"We can go up to the roof, then; just stand there, watch the night sky and unwind, kind of like when we first met."

"Why are you so keen on getting me somewhere away from everyone else where we would be alone?" she asked him suspiciously.

"I'm _not_," responded Tyn testily. "I'm just trying to help, damn it. Look, how about we go find Nel and talk with her a bit? You consider _her_ a friend, right?"

"Yes, I do, but she's spending time with her fracción playing a _children's game_, if you can believe it. Tag, she said."

"And what's wrong with that?" countered the taller arrancar. "Let them have a little fun now; we all know sooner or later the War will come, so we should enjoy the peace and quiet as much as we can."

"Then maybe _you_ should go play with them."

"I have a ridiculously-unfair advantage, in case you've forgotten..." Tyn said dryly. "We can go to the commissary and grab a bite to eat, then, or if you really want to take out your frustrations, we can go spar."

"Do you have any idea how _dangerous_ an idea that is right now?" asked Halibel, raising an eyebrow. "I might seriously hurt you. I might even _kill_ you...by accident, of course."

"I'm harder to kill than you might think," grinned the redhead, ignoring the way she had belatedly tacked on the 'by accident' part. "But if it'll help you get out of this black mood, then I'm fine with taking the chance."

Tia stared at him for a long minute, gauging the sincerity showing in his amber eyes and in his voice before ultimately shaking her head and giving a tired sigh.

"You're insane," she told him finally, her tone somewhat softer than before. "Impetuous. Impulsive."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," he told her with a wry grin. "Like I said before, it's a rule of mine never to be intimate with something that might _eat_ me."

"I'm _not_ going to eat you," said Halibel, rolling her eyes again. "And intimate? _HA!_ In your dreams, Six."

That last comment had been condescending as all Hell, but her tone of voice and general body language seemed to suggest that her anger was slowly ebbing away, so Tyn decided to let the comment slide rather than firing an inflammatory shot back at her.

"So, that's a 'no' on sparring, then?" he asked instead.

"A definite no," she affirmed. "And a no on eating in the commissary, too; I prefer to eat in my quarters with my _fracción_...I'm more comfortable there."

"You're a hermit," countered Tyn. "And I thought Starrk was bad for staying cooped up in his quarters sleeping so much, but at least he'll come down and socialize with the rest of us at lunchtime."

"I don't expect _you_ to understand my reasoning..." said Halibel, looking away. "You're one of the lucky ones...one of the _luckiest_, in fact."

"Is this about your mask?" asked the raptor, unconsciously reaching up to finger the slender remains of his own mask that ran along his jawline. "Don't tell me it is."

Silence.

"Look, no one is going to say anything about it..." said Tyn. "I promise. And if they do, I'll handle it. Or you can take care of it yourself if you'd prefer; no one, absolutely _no one_, is going to care if you knock Nnoitra's stupid head off. Or Grimmjow. Or that stuck-up prick Zommari. I doubt Aizen will care that much, either, whenever he gets back from his little masquerade in the Soul Society."

"The girls should be back by now, actually..." Tia murmured, ignoring Tyn's assurances. "They went with the expedition group to the human world this week. I'm curious to hear what it was like for them."

"Send them after something specific?" asked Tyn, rolling with the abrupt change of subject for the moment but making a mental note to address the 'hermit' situation at a later date.

"I didn't ask for anything this week, but they were really insistent about going along, so Gin gave them permission to accompany the servants and do the..._shopping_."

"Looting, more like," snorted Tyn. "But whatever; we need the supplies more than the humans."

"What about you?" asked Halibel, showing a surprising amount of curiosity about the other arrancar for once. "You request anything?"

"Just a new pillow," shrugged Tyn. "The thing in my quarters is like a damned rock... I want something softer; a feather pillow, preferably. I got some artificial ferns to decorate my quarters last time."

"Mm, I saw them being brought in...looked like about eight of them," said the blonde as they entered the large building that served as quartermaster for all of Los Noches. "A new pillow was the first thing I requested... I have this soft little foam thing now, very comfortable."

"Anything would be better than what I have now," said Tyn, coming to a stop to watch the servants wheeling in pallets of goods from the human world from a small, artificially-generated _garganta_ that emptied straight into the store room.

"There's another one of those big boxy things..." murmured Tia as the colorful contraption was wheeled by on a dolly, a seat attached to it and a wheel of some sort.

"Arcade game according to Gin," said Tyn with a shrug. "Not sure what it really does or what it's good for, but he sure loves 'em."

The pair watched the dozen servants wheel in pallet after pallet of merchandise as others began unboxing the goods and dividing them up for delivery to the officers and to the various supply sheds and closets scattered across the palace.

"Oh, _God_," groaned Halibel, gesturing towards one box being unpacked. "Another one of those stupid 'Nerf' guns for Linn..."

"Wonderful," said Tyn dryly. "Just what he _doesn't_ need... Such a pain to be enjoying lunch and then _whap_, a stupid dart comes across the table and pops you in the forehead."

"Those look like books for Nel..." said Halibel, pointing to a stack of fantasy literature. "And those encyclopedias are either for the library or Ulquiorra, I'm sure."

"I think Ulquiorra probably has more books in his room than the library itself does..." said Tyn as another servant approached him with a pillow wrapped in plastic. "Should have seen his haul last week..." He took the offered pillow, squeezing it experimentally and patting his hand against it. "_Much_ better."

Halibel reached over to squeeze the feather-stuffed object a couple of times herself.

"Mine is softer," she told him. "You should request one next time and give it a try."

"I might," said Tyn, tucking the object under his arm. "But this should keep me comfortable for now."

"Master Halibel!" called a voice over the noise of moving boxes. "Master Halibel!"

Apacci, Mila-Rose, and Sung-Sun came jogging across the warehouse with a large flat..._something_ wrapped in a sheet, offering it to the female Espada with pleased grins on their faces.

"I didn't ask for anything..." said Halibel, brow furrowing as she began to unwrap the protective sheet.

"We know, but we saw this and just _had_ to get it for you," explained Sung-Sun. "It's you, Master; definitely _you_."

Tia looked at the grinning faces of her three servants, her three _friends_, and then finished carefully removing the wrapping to reveal a breathtaking picture of a tropical beach and its warm, blue waters. The image was in full color, sharp and crystal clear, and wider than most zanpaktou were long.

"It's..._gorgeous,_" said Halibel, stunned. "It's amazing."

The three women smiled brightly at the praise as Tia touched the glass gently.

"It is pretty impressive," admitted Tyn with a nod.

"It's everything I want..." Halibel said. "This...this is my dream. When the war is over and we've established the new order, this is where I want to go. This is where I want to _live_."

"Where is it, exactly?" asked Tyn curiously.

"I don't know, but this is what I always see in my head..." answered the blonde quietly. "I'll find it and make this my home." She looked up at her three friends, undoubtedly smiling at them from behind her mask. "We'll make it _our_ home, our own private slice of heaven."

She turned her head over to look at Tyn.

"I _might_ even let you visit, if you're lucky."

The redhead raised a questioning eyebrow at the almost-but-not-quite-friendly comment, but Halibel didn't say anything further to him as she turned to her _fracción_ and motioned for them to follow her back to her quarters so they could hang the picture on her wall. The pseudo-invite was unexpected, but not unwelcome and a sign that maybe, just _maybe_, the frosty woman was willing to try and be friends after all.

Good; the more closely-knit the Pack was, the stronger they would be and the better they could protect each other.

Of course, the thought of Halibel trotting around on that beach in a bikini was pretty damn appealing, too, but that was probably better left unsaid... He turned on his heel and marched out of the storeroom, heading back for his quarters with his comfy new pillow tucked under his arm tightly.

"In my dreams, indeed..."

* * *

_**-Karakura, Present Day-**_

The afternoon sun was on its way down when Tyn finally found his way back to his apartment to hang his newly-rediscovered treasures up on the wall. Halibel's picture was an easy enough placement; while she had kept it in her sitting room facing the interior of the dome and the artificial daylight, putting it in the bedroom seemed like the better choice this time around and the _quinto_ only hoped his mate would agree with his decision when she returned home.

And really, she should be coming home any minute now.

While she didn't normally work the weekends, it was a Saturday and she'd had to work four hours at the bar to cover someone coming in late and from there she was going to a "baby shower" for her coworker and friend, Kishi, the one Tyn _didn't_ hate.

The notion of a "baby shower" for a child yet to be born seemed absurd to him, even though it had been explained that they weren't literally showering the baby (which had originally led him to ask the pregnant woman if that meant she was going to be running a garden hose up in there); no, a flushed-looking Kishi had explained the concept of gifts for the baby to him while gracefully managing to only give a polite giggle for his mistake instead of openly laughing and mocking him as a fool as the other waitress, Sachi, had done.

For Christ's sake, they didn't even know if the kid was going to be male or female yet because Kishi wanted it to "be a surprise," so the gifts all had to be gender-neutral.

Fortunately, "baby showers" were traditionally a female thing, so only Tia had been obligated to go, leaving Tyn the rest of the day to do as he saw fit, hence the trip to Hueco Mundo.

There was a small bit of wall space above the bar, a scant couple of feet of blank white canvas that needed some color, and so Tyn had moved the colorful crimson and gold katana Halibel had bought him for Christmas a couple of years ago from its spot above the television to the empty space over the bar. He nodded as he appraised the new look, satisfied with the color the change had brought.

He turned back around to face the television and the empty space on the wall behind and above it before looking down at the silver bow laying on the couch and back to the wall. Oh yes, that would work just perfect.

Tyn carefully picked up his prize and carried it over to the wall, raising it up to place on the hooks embedded there when he heard the front door open and the familiar and intoxicatingly-pleasant scent of the Shark Queen flooded into the apartment.

"Welcome home," he told her without turning around as he gently set the bow into place. He stepped back, looking at the weapon versus the television and, upon realizing the bow wasn't quite centered, stepped forward again to readjust the position.

"Mm, glad to _be_ home," said Tia, running a hand through her golden locks. "Four hours overtime is nice, but weekend work in general... And as if the ridiculousness of the baby shower wasn't enough, Kishi is now trying to convince me that _we_ should have a baby so it can grow up alongside hers."

"Yeah, no," said Tyn, shaking his head. "Not happening. No kids."

"More or less what I told her, too," said Halibel, raising an eyebrow at the new addition to the wall. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yep," answered the raptor with a grin, stepping back once again and re-evaluating the positioning.

_Perfect._

"I haven't thought about that thing in years..." murmured Halibel. "Surprised it's still in one piece with the palace being wrecked."

"I've thought about it a few times, but I never had a chance to hop out of my gigai and go looking since we were hiding from the Soul Society," said Tyn. "But now that the masquerade is over..."

"You must have done some digging to find that; that pile of rubble is positively _enormous_."

"I had help," Tyn admitted. "Took the others with me. And it wasn't in one piece; I had to ask Orihime to fix it for me."

"You're lucky it was even there at all," Tia pointed out. "After...that day, Aizen ordered your quarters, Linn's, and Nel's all cleaned out and the items within disposed of."

"Not a surprise," said Tyn sourly. "But I knew this would still be there." He turned to face the blonde, smiling affectionately at her. "I _know_ you, Tia; with as important as this was to me, there's no way you'd have let it be destroyed. It's the exact same thing I'd have done for you had our roles been reversed."

"Maybe so," she said, returning the smile gently, "but you're still lucky; I was so distraught over everything that went down, I nearly missed my chance to save it. I was _trying_ to sleep it all away when they began cleaning out the rooms."

"Well, much as I treasure this thing, I wouldn't have been mad if you hadn't been able to save it," shrugged the redhead. "A lot was going on that day, for both of us. I couldn't blame you if you missed it."

"But I'd have blamed _myself_," Halibel corrected him. "After everything else, after the way I betrayed your trust and our friendship, I had to do _something_ to make amends. I figured as long as I had that, you'd forgive me when you were finally captured and brought home."

"Except Aizen was never going to just capture me alive," growled Tyn, the green eyes of his gigai darkening as he spoke. "He wanted me _dead_, no matter what he may have promised you."

"I know," sighed Halibel. "I believed him back then, but hindsight is 20/20, isn't it?"

She walked over to the displayed weapon and the wall it was perched on, reaching up to run her fingers along the bow's silver-plated shaft gently.

"Orihime seemed mildly upset when I told her exactly where I got it," Tyn said, a devilish smirk on his face.

"I'll bet..." chuckled Halibel. "I remember that day very well...and I remember the day I took this off your wall..."

* * *

_**-Los Noches, 5.2 Years Ago-**_

Sleep, or at least a good, _restful_ sleep had become an elusive prize, tormenting the already-tormented Halibel even further; she did not want to stay awake and think about what had happened over the past twelve hours, did not want to remember chasing her friend out of the only real home he had ever known, but the only "sleep" she could get her hands on gave her no comfort, either, with dreams that taunted her with fantasies of Tyn's return and of a relationship repaired and enhanced.

She came out of the small washroom attached to her bedroom, working a towel through her still-damp hair as she sighed and fixed her eyes on the handprint on the glass doors leading out to the balcony. Tyn had returned during her tumultuous sleep, had sat _right there_, but had not knocked to wake her and talk, and she was frustrated both with his inaction and the fact she had been oblivious to the nocturnal visit.

If only she could talk to him one more time, she was _sure_ he could be made see reason...

But if he had returned for her once, he would likely do so again and next time, she would be ready. Next time, she would convince him to apologize to Lord Aizen and stay in the palace. Next time, she wouldn't let him slip away again, no matter _what_ she had to do to keep him here.

For now, it seemed like the best course of action was to go resume her duties, see if Lord Aizen had an assignment for her, or to go find someone to spar with and vent her frustrations.

Nnoitra seemed like a good target for that; no one would care too much if he was seriously hurt and breaking his bones would certainly help brighten her black mood...

"God damn it, Tyn; where _are_ you?" she muttered.

Tia sighed as she tossed the towel onto her bed and picked up her abbreviated jacket top, putting the garment on and zipping it shut to hide her mask away from the world, hiding it behind the high collar that obscured most of her face and showed only her eyes.

_Love the new look; gives you this whole sexy and mysterious vibe._

_ Did you just call me sexy?_

_ Don't go getting pissy at me; I didn't mean it like _that_._

_ ...oh._

The blonde flushed a bright red as she remembered the conversation from last week and how for once she hadn't minded the notion of such a compliment on her looks, at least not from him. If she had seized upon that moment, maybe none of this would have come to pass; maybe she could have persuaded him to stop questioning Lord Aizen, maybe...

Maybe she should just leave her damn room and stop letting her mind wander.

She pushed the thoughts aside and exited her bedroom, marching straight through the sunlit sitting room to her door, yanking it open and stepping out into the hall, ready and even _eager_ to go find something, _anything_, to take her mind off of Tyn.

Down the hall to her left was a servant, slowly pushing a large cart in her general direction, which was an unusual sight; it wasn't a food cart, but rather a giant basket on wheels, like he was gathering things up...

Meanwhile, down the hall to her right, she could hear hoots of laughter coming from Linn's open door, the laughter of her own fracción as they merrily tore his quarters apart for his perverted, womanizing ways. A small explosion sounded, likely born of a bala blast, and a thick cloud of dust and debris came rolling out of the open door and into the hall, accompanied by even more joyful laughter.

Well, at least _someone_ was happy with today's nightmare...

The servant with the cart walked past her, heading towards the sounds of destruction before stopping in front of Tyn's door and, producing a key from his pocket, began to unlock the latch.

"You!" Halibel barked, incensed at what she was seeing. "What the hell do you think you're _doing?_ You have _no right_ to enter an Espada's quarters uninvited!"

The timid servant arrancar looked up at the menacing blonde woman that was suddenly towering over him, her fists clenched in fury. The dark-haired _creature_ opened his mouth once, then closed it, then opened it again, then shut it once more as he worked up the nerve to speak to the newly-promoted _tercera_ Espada.

"I'm sorry, Master Halibel," he said meekly after a long moment, "but Lord Aizen has decreed that Master Tyn is no longer an Espada. He has also ordered that all quarters belonging to the former Espada be emptied of personal belongings and cleaned thoroughly to make ready for replacements."

Halibel clenched her jaw tightly behind her mask, narrowing her eyes. It made perfect sense, but...

"You can empty his quarters _after_ I'm done in there," she told him.

"But Lord Aizen said_—"_

"Do you intend to deny me my _right_ to first dibs on whatever treasures an ex-Espada might possess?" she hissed threateningly, making the already-terrified servant recoil in fear.

"N-n-no, of course not," he stammered, "but Lord Aizen made it clear_—_"

"It's fine," said a smooth, cultured voice from behind Halibel, forcing both arrancar to jump in surprise. The servant fell to a knee immediately as Halibel spun around and bowed her head respectfully.

"Lord Aizen..." she said, swallowing hard. Generous as the great Lord Aizen was, he might not approve of her interfering with his orders...

"It's fine," Lord Aizen repeated with a comforting smile. "Lady Halibel certainly has the right to take whatever she wishes from Tyn's quarters. While she does that, you may go assist the ladies down the hall with their..._enthusiastic_ work on Linndal's room."

"Yes, Lord Aizen!" exclaimed the servant, eager to obey his master's command and eager to distance himself from Halibel's wrath.

"Lord Aizen, thank you..." said Halibel, bowing again. "I appreciate your generosity."

"Please, it's the least I can do for you," smiled the benevolent king of Hueco Mundo. "After all you've been through today, I can imagine you might want a keepsake or two to remember him by."

Halibel nodded sadly, averting her eyes rather than showing her Lord how deeply upset she truly was.

"And while I have issued the command he be brought in alive, just as I promised you earlier, there's no guarantee our search teams will find him; after all, the desert is a big place and if someone doesn't want to be found, they likely won't be," he continued. "But if we can find him and bring him home, I'm sure he'll be grateful to you for saving his valuables for him. It will help him transition into his new role as your _fracción _and make the adjustment easier for everyone, I think."

"I think so, too," agreed Halibel. "At least, I _hope_ so."

"Have faith, my dear Halibel," said Lord Aizen, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder and giving a gentle squeeze. "I believe in my heart that everything will work out just fine in the end; the issue with Tyn seems to be just a simple misunderstanding instead of an unfortunate situation like Linndal."

"I still can't believe he attacked you..." Halibel said, shaking her head. "I knew Linn was unhinged, but to try and _assassinate_ you? I'd never have guessed he was that far gone."

"No one was more surprised than I," said Lord Aizen sorrowfully. "Surprised and saddened. It broke my heart to have to kill Linndal, but_—_"

"You did what you _had_ to, My Lord," said Halibel quickly, comforting her king rather than letting him blame himself. "Linndal brought this upon himself."

"But Tyn can be saved," smiled Lord Aizen once again, "and believe me, we _will_ save him. You have my word on that."

Halibel smiled behind her mask, feeling a thousand times better now than she had just a few scant minutes ago; Lord Aizen would _never_ lie to her, never betray her, and if he said they would save Tyn, then she had nothing to worry about.

"And as much as I'd like to be here during this turbulent time for you and the other Espada, I'm afraid that 'Captain Aizen' has duties to attend to in the Soul Society for a bit longer," apologized the great ruler as he ran a hand through his brown hair, doing away with the slicked-back look he typically wore in favor of something more tousled and humble-looking before pulling out a pair of glasses and putting them on. "Gin will be staying behind in my stead to keep an eye on things, so if you need _anything_, see him and he'll make sure it's taken care of. I'll be back next week to switch with him."

"I understand, Lord Aizen. Thank you," said Halibel, bowing one final time as the shinigami continued on down the hall, pausing only briefly to look in on Linndal's room and the havoc contained within.

Halibel exhaled a massive sigh of relief as she finally took hold of the doorknob to Tyn's room and pushed it open, stepping inside to see what she could save.

He didn't have much in the way of belongings and she knew that; she'd spent more than enough time in his quarters talking with him to know every last detail of the place, as he did with her own room. He had multiple artificial ferns throughout the place, in corners, two on each balcony, a couple in the bedroom...

She had two ferns on her daylight-facing balcony that had been a gift from the former _sexta_; she'd made a comment that his had looked nice out there and an hour later he had shown up at her door with his two biggest and fullest ferns, just for her.

She smiled at the slightly-goofy memory; it had been a sweet gesture, a token of their friendship.

And now here she was, prowling around his abandoned quarters like a _vulture_ to take whatever she wanted...

A part of her felt guilty about it, like she was a common thief, but she pushed those feelings away and reminded herself that she was only here to take a few things for safekeeping, nothing more.

But the room was virtually empty; Tyn had never been one for excessive trinkets. He did not have pictures on his walls like she did, he did not have small figurines and artful decorations scattered about, he did not have a shelf full of books. He only had his ferns, spare clothes, a chair, his feather pillow, and his bow_—_

_The bow!_

The single most important thing Tyn owned was the bow he had taken as a trophy from a Quincy during their little hunting expedition just a few short days ago. He had polished the silver plates on it to a fine mirror-like sheen and mounted the weapon on the wall in his sitting room, positioning it directly where the artificial sun would catch just a few angles of the plates to give it a dramatic-looking gleam.

Halibel approached the weapon and carefully took it down, feeling its weight for the first time. This was his one real treasure and he would be so _happy_ to see that she had saved it for him...

She allowed herself a tight smile of satisfaction and headed for the door; this would go a hell of a long way towards restoring the trust that had been broken in the past twenty-four hours.

She paused for a brief moment before turning around and going back to his bedroom and retrieving his feather pillow, reasoning that he might want that, too.

The bow slung over her shoulder and the feather pillow under her arm, the _tercera_ finally exited Tyn's quarters and returned to her own. The weapon she would carefully wrap and store in her closet until Tyn finally came home and as for the pillow, she thought the best place for it would be on her bed, right beside her own.

One day, he'd come home to the palace and there was no doubt he'd forgive her when he saw what she had done for him. One day, he'd understand everything. One day they would both be happy. One day everything would be just perfect.

_One day..._

But not today.

* * *

_**-Karakura, Present Day-**_

"What made you decide to go back and even look for it in the first place?"

"It was this or a cookout at Orihime's," shrugged Tyn as Halibel fell backwards onto the couch with a tired sigh.

"Hueco Mundo _is_ safer than her cuisine," nodded the blonde. "I'd have made the same decision." She propped her feet up on the coffee table, letting her head roll back. "That mouthy bitch from Kishi's wedding was at the baby shower today...it took everything I have, literally _everything_, to keep from shutting her up permanently. God, I'm so exhausted just from spending the entire time with my jaw clenched...and my teeth hurt, too."

"Want me to take care of it?" asked Tyn softly. "I can track her down if you want, make it look like an accident..."

"Don't tempt me," growled Tia. "No, what I need right now is to just get my mind off today's bullshit and just relax. Tomorrow's another day and most importantly, it's a day I won't have to socialize with her."

"Something to take your mind off the bullshit, you say?" asked the redhead with a wry grin as he stood in front of Halibel and gripped her hands, pulling the Shark Queen to her feet.

"What?" she asked, exasperated. "Can't I sit down for a few minutes?" Tyn refused to release her hand, keeping a tight grip as he led her to the bedroom. "Tyn, not _now_. Did you miss the part where I said I'm exhausted?"

"Nope," he answered cheerfully. "Besides, it's not what you think."

"Then _why_ do we need to go to the bedroom?"

"Just close your eyes for a minute and trust me," instructed Tyn, pausing at the door and waiting for her to comply.

Halibel rolled her sea-green eyes in irritation, but she obediently followed her mate's instructions, shutting her eyes closed tightly and allowing him to continue pulling her along. She felt him lead her over to the bed and gently guide her to sit down, then lie back on her side of the queen-sized mattress.

"Are you _sure_ this isn't what I think it is?" she asked him suspiciously.

"Are your clothes still on?" he countered.

"Yes..."

"Then no, it's not what you think it is," said Tyn. "You'll love this, I promise. Just keep your eyes shut a couple seconds longer."

Tyn left her side and walked back across the room and the _tercera's_ sensitive hears could hear him flipping the light switch on. "Aaaand _now."_

Halibel fluttered her eyes open, her mouth automatically opening along with them to ask what was going on, but words failed her as she noticed the beautiful picture on the wall just across from the bed, a familiar treasure she'd thought lost forever.

"I didn't actually find it myself," Tyn admitted reluctantly as Halibel slowly got up from the bed and made her way over to the image, entranced. "Ulquiorra did by accident, but I decided to bring it back and see if Orihime could fix it for you."

"I never thought I'd see this again..." she breathed finally, touching the glass tenderly, almost as if she were afraid of breaking it all over again.

"I know how much it means to you, so I _had_ to bring it back," the _quinto_ continued. "If we hadn't found it, I'd have been more than happy to keep going back day after day and digging by myself until I found it for you."

"Sung-Sun, Apacci, Mila-Rose and I were all going to find this place and live there after the war..." said Halibel absently. "It was just a dream, but it was such a wonderful dream... This...this reminds me of them so much..."

"We can hang it somewhere else if you want," Tyn shrugged as he stepped up beside her. "I just thought you might want it here so you could see it at the end of every night and the start of every day."

"No," she said, shaking her head slowly. "It's perfect right where it is."

"Glad you like it," murmured Tyn as Tia turned to embrace him, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.

"I _love_ it," she confirmed as the redhead slipped his own arms around her waist affectionately. "You don't even know how much I appreciate this..."

"I don't have to know," he told her. "All I need to know is that it makes you happy."

"Apacci hated you _so_ _much_ back then..." said Halibel softly. "But Sung-Sun always thought you were good to me, and Mila-Rose said your stubborn nature actually complemented me pretty well... I think all three of them would be happy right now if they were here..."

"I _do_ kind of miss Apacci yelling at me for the unforgivable crime of having a penis..." said Tyn wryly, the blonde in his arms chuckling slightly at the memories of the other woman's near-psychotic anti-male rage. "Feel better now?"

"Mhm..."

Most people, be they human, shinigami, or arrancar would define treasure as an inanimate physical object, many undoubtedly imagining a chest brimming with riches of gold, silver, and precious gems, enough wealth to keep them comfortable for the rest of their natural life, but the _quinto_ had other ideas.

Treasure, _true_ treasure was not a physical object to be put on display, hidden away or sold; no, real treasure came in the form of people and intangible things called feelings, feelings that by all rights, heartless monsters such as arrancar _shouldn't_ have even been able to experience.

Tyn smiled softly as he continued to just hold his mate, thankful for the warm tears of happiness and love against his neck as the blonde buried her face into his shoulder. As much as he valued the silver Quincy bow on display in the living room, the truth of the matter was that his greatest treasure was right there in his arms and he would be more than happy to just hold her for the rest of the night.

_**...**_

_**..**_

_**.**_

_**Author's**_** _Note:_**_ So I'm still working on the follow-up (need a title for it, damn it) for _Long Halloween_, and this started as a chapter for that story, but as it grew and grew, it became apparent this would be better served as a oneshot. Lot of hopping back and forth between the present and the past here, but I think it came out pretty good and I hope you'll agree. Ties in with Ziggy's _Empathy, Sympathy, and Really Nice Boots_ oneshot.__  
_


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